Cardinal Gibbons clears initial hurdle in quest for night games

Private Fort Lauderdale school has never been allowed to use lights installed two years ago

August 10, 2010|By Scott Wyman, Sun Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE — Cardinal Gibbons High School has moved a step closer to switching on its never-before-used stadium lights and playing sports at night.

Nearby residents opposed to the lights failed Tuesday to throw major new roadblocks in front of the school's plans. Although the lights were installed two years ago, they have remained off because of a bureaucratic screw-up at City Hall and a protracted legal fight between the prestigious Catholic school and its neighbors.

The residents hoped to persuade city staffers that the school had not gone far enough to protect their homes from the bright lights and noise during night games or to keep their streets from being clogged with the cars of sports fans.

The fight now goes to the Planning & Zoning Board, but likely will eventually land in the laps of city commissioners and possibly even state court.

"We don't feel the city is listening to our concerns at all," said Robert Prager, a leader of the opposition whose home is next to the football field. "They just aren't concerned about the immediate neighborhood and what we will have to deal with. They are ignoring the impact."

Cardinal Gibbons spent $250,000 to install the four lights in 2008. The city had issued a permit for the installation, but decided during a final inspection that the lights violated land-use regulations and has blocked their use since. The school is pressing to end the dispute and wants a waiver so it can begin playing night games this fall.

The school has been wanting lights for 26 years and has offered a long list of compromises it's willing to make in an effort to limit the impact on surrounding homes.

Under its proposal, Cardinal Gibbons would use the lights for no more than 30 games a year unless a team made post-season playoffs. The lights couldn't be used for practices and would normally shut off no later than 10:30 p.m. Also, the school promised to provide off-site parking for fans, pay for extra police during games and add landscaping around the lights.

"We meet all the requirements," said Miami lawyer Amy Huber, who is representing the school. "It's been a long process, and we continue to comply with and satisfy every requirement made by the city."

The lights tower over nearby homes. Two are 65 feet high, while the other pair is 95 feet high.

Opponents allege the city is violating its own code in the handling of the Cardinal Gibbons application. They believe the city wants to avoid the possibility of having to pay for the lights because of the snafu in approving them two years ago.

The opponents argue the city should require more space between the lights and nearby homes as well as a detailed study of the noise created by night games. Also, they want a review of whether the streets are so glutted with traffic during games that emergency vehicles cannot pass through.

City staff members, though, maintained Tuesday that the school meets the buffer requirements and that arguments about noise and traffic don't apply to the lights because they are related to sporting events and the school already is allowed to have sporting events.

Elva Bielejeski, a resident of the neighborhood for 42 years, left Tuesday hearing disappointed, terming it a waste of time.

"My husband is 80 and I'm 71 and we just want to live out the rest of our lives in our house peacefully," Bielejeski said.